The Miller Memoirs

PARIS...Day 3

For our second day (my third day...including travel), we had a few goals...visit everything of importance, and visit it all in one day. WHEW...it was a tall order to fill, but we were bound and determined to succeed! We mapped out our day, and we began with....

The Palace of Versailles

The Palace of Versailles was breathtakingly beautiful on the inside as well as the outside. Everything in the palace was of the finest. There was gold trimming throughout the palace (on the inside as well as the outside), which added to its grandeur. Every room was designed with amazing detail...statues, trimmings, engravings, magnificient paintings.

There were fireplaces in almost every room. The fireplaces were 12 ft. long, and 7 ft. tall...they were huge!

The hall of mirrors is 340-feet long. It was lit by 3,000 candles. The Treaty of Versailles was signed in the hall of mirrors (between the Allies and Germany), which ended World War I. It was a majestic room.

The Louvre Here I am standing outside of the Louvre...the Louvre is the largest museum in France.

When Jill and I first arrived, we began our search for the Mona Lisa. We circled the museum for quite a long time. During our search for the Mona Lisa, Jill and I found ourselves in a wing of the museum with tile flooring. This portion of the museum was deathly quiet...except....for the noise of squeaky shoes. No matter how I walked--my shoes squeaked. I walked on my toes...squeak. I walked on the sides of my soles...squeak. I walked on my heels...squeak. Silence. Squeak. Silence. Squeak. I tried desperately to quiet my squeaky shoes, but the connection of rubber and tile created a harmony all of my own. It was too funny (my stomach hurt from laughing so hard), and yet my face burned from embarrassment. Too funny! Between squeaky shoes, and long corridors the discovery of the Mona Lisa was bliss.
After we had enjoyed the Mr. Da Vinci's work for a time, and toured the other artifacts in the museum, we decided we should continue our tour of Paris; however, we were faced with one small problem. Our problem--we couldn't find an exit. We explored several different corridors, in the hopes of finding an exit, to find ourselves right back where we had started. We circled the Louvre looking for an exit for what seemed like forever. We experienced firsthand the immensity of the museum! When we finally found the exit, I wanted to shout--Hallelujah!

~Entrance to The Louvre~

~Smaller Pyramid by the Entrance~

~The Inverted Pyramid Inside the Louvre~

~Mona Lisa~

The Notre Dame Cathedral
The Cathedral was truly a beautiful building with amazing architecture. The stained glass windows were awe inspiring. It was a beautiful house of worship. While Jill and I were within the cathedral, two men began fighting. When the fighting finally ceased, the man who started the fight was escorted out of the cathedral. Both Jill and I were a bit shaken by this experience. I am still saddened at the disrespect, which was shown in a place of worship.

~Stained-Glass Windows Within Notre Dame~

The Eiffel Tower

We went all the way to the top of the Eiffel tower! It was absolutely amazing! The view was breathtaking. Everything was surreal! It was truly a highlight for me!

~View from the Eiffel Tower~

~Eiffel Tower~

When we were done, we saw the light show on the Eiffel tower. It was awesome!! The Eiffel tower lit up in several different colors.

SEINE RIVER CRUISE
After the Eiffel tower, we went on the Seine River Cruise. We wore headsets, and listened to major insights on Paris. It was so neat! Definitely a highlight!